The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) describes this problem as food insecurity and defines it as, “limited or uncertain access to nutritious, safe foods necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle; households that experience food insecurity have reduced quality or variety of meals and may have irregular food intake.”

In the United States, 12.1 percent of American households live with food insecurity and of those, 4.6 percent face very low food security, according to 2008 figures from the USDA. Chenango County is one of the poorest in the state, with about 14.8 percent of households reporting food insecurity.